The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership

Dethmer, Chapman and Klemp present fifteen paired commitments, each contrasting what they call above the line behaviour, meaning open, curious and committed to learning, with below the line behaviour, meaning closed, defensive and committed to being right. Their first instruction is to notice which side of the line you are on, on the argument that locating yourself matters more than being above it.

The commitments include taking radical responsibility rather than assigning blame; learning through curiosity rather than defending a position; feeling all feelings through to completion rather than suppressing them; speaking candidly, which they define as revealing rather than concealing; eliminating gossip, defined as speaking about someone in a way you would not speak to them; practising integrity as the alignment of what you think, feel, say and do; generating appreciation; excelling in your zone of genius; living a life of play and rest; exploring the opposite of any position you hold; sourcing approval, control and security from yourself; having enough of everything; experiencing the world as an ally; creating win-for-all solutions; and being the resolution rather than waiting for it.

The framework draws on Hendricks' work on the zone of genius, on somatic psychology and on the drama triangle of victim, villain and hero, which they use to describe how organisations reproduce conflict.

The book has no evidence base and is entirely the authors' coaching practice. The language is therapeutic and many business readers reject it on that basis. The drama triangle and the above and below the line distinction are the two elements that transfer most readily into ordinary management conversation, and they can be adopted without the rest of the framework.